I don't know where to ask this, but here is probably the best place.
I am about to spend 1 year in USA and I thought to train BJJ a bit (no good judo clubs around there or there are some that are very far away). Of course, I'd love to continue training judo...when I don't train judo for a week, I nearly die.
I will probably do BJJ there, but its so expensive..damn. Its like 3x per-week only 1 hour for 150$. Plus, they have mostly white belts. I was there last time and it was ok training, but not judo. Is that how BJJ is in all places in USA, so expensive ? In Europe, you can do judo for so cheap. For the last 3 years, I've probably paid 100$ or so and I've trained in many different clubs.
i wish i was in CA, there are more judo clubs there for sure and good ones.
Having trained in both BJJ and judo, BJJ is about promotion, tournaments and making money. Very little money in judo and you are welcome to train at almost anyone's club as a guest for free. In BJJ you usually cannot attend a BJJ school under a different head Black belt. They don't allow it. Very parochial. Minimum for a good BJJ school is $99/month up to $150/month as you discovered. Pay and enjoy the experience especially if the instuctor is a blackbelt. It might be worth learning how they disect the ground game.
The U.S. has very few good judo clubs. It's a good chance to train bjj. But find yourself a good school. There are tons of black belt trained schools in the U.S., with lots of good students. The schools are not usually full of white belts. Just find a better school.